Atiku Blasts Tinubu: Workers’ Day Marked by Missed Opportunity for Genuine Transformation

By Emmanuel Kwada

Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Atiku Abubakar, has sharply criticised President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, describing the current administration’s handling of subsidy removal as a missed opportunity that has inflicted severe hardship on Nigerian workers instead of delivering promised renewal.

In a strongly worded message to mark Workers’ Day, Atiku recalled his 2023 presidential campaign manifesto, which proposed a bold $10 billion economic stimulus programme.

According to him, the plan was designed to channel savings from fuel subsidy removal into massive job creation across agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure sectors.

“The stimulus would have lifted millions out of poverty, provided targeted support to the vulnerable, and ignited genuine economic activity that grows the tax base organically,” Atiku stated.

He argued that such a people-centred intervention would have generated far more revenue for government through a productive economy than any tax increase could achieve.

Instead, Atiku lamented that Nigerians were presented with “opaque mega-projects” such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which he claimed was awarded without due process to a presidential associate.

“The contrast between a vision centred on the people and one centred on self could not be starker,” he declared.

Addressing Nigerian workers directly, the former Vice President acknowledged the daily struggles of civil servants yet to receive full entitlements, traders facing low patronage, factory workers losing jobs, and underfunded teachers and health workers.

“You are not invisible. Your suffering is not a statistic. It is real… and a direct consequence of trial-and-error policy choices,” Atiku said. He stressed that working people did not cause the crisis nor vote for impoverishment, but for hope that has since been eroded.

Atiku called for a new leadership approach that prioritises the welfare of citizens over patronage networks and elite projects. “Nigeria can and must do better. The resources exist. The talent exists. What is lacking is the will to govern for all Nigerians rather than for the few,” he added.

He reaffirmed his commitment to building a nation where the dignity of labour is rewarded, hard work pays, and government genuinely serves the people, describing it as “tangible, measurable and real” renewal – not a mere slogan.

The statement comes amid ongoing public debates over economic reforms, persistent inflation, and labour concerns despite the new national minimum wage.

Atiku’s critique underscores deepening divisions over the direction of Nigeria’s economic management as the country marks International Workers’ Day.